What is Meth?
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What is Meth?

What is meth? Methamphetamines are synthetic stimulants that are produced and sold illegally in pill form, capsules, powder, and chunks. It is a white, odorless, bitter tasting crystalline powder that can be easily dissolved in water or alcohol. It can be mixed with water for injection or sprinkled on tobacco or marijuana and smoked.  Since methamphetamine will vaporize rapidly, some heat the drug and inhale the fumes that are released.

Crystal MethMethamphetamines may be known as meth, crank, glass, speed, crystal, ice, batu, chalk, shabu, or zip. "Ice" is a large crystal form of high-purity methamphetamine hydrochloride. Ice derives its name from its appearance: large, clear crystals that resemble chunks of ice, shards of broken glass, or rock candy. Crank refers to any form of methamphetamine. Ice is a crystallized smokeable chunk form of methamphetamine that produces a more intense reaction than cocaine or speed. Ice has an appearance that is clear and crystal-like, and resembles frozen ice water. Crank and ice are extremely addictive and produce a severe craving for the drug.

Sometimes called the "poor man's cocaine", methamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant of the amphetamine family.  What is meth like for those who abuse it? Methamphetamines stimulate the central nervous system, and the effects may last anywhere from 8 to 24 hours. Like cocaine, it is a powerful "upper" that produces alertness and elation, along with a variety of adverse reactions. After the effects of methamphetamine wears off, it can cause severe withdrawal that is more intense and longer lasting than both speed and cocaine. After the initial "rush," there is typically a state of high agitation that in some individuals can lead to violent behavior.

What is meth distribution?

It was not until 1988 that ice became widespread in Hawaii. By 1990, ice spread to the U.S. mainland, although distribution remained limited to retail amounts in just a few regions of the country. In the early 1990s, Koreans served as the principal supply source for ice that was smuggled from Asia directly to Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. Intelligence data indicates that traffickers from Mexico are supplying Asian organizations/gangs on the West Coast and in Hawaii with methamphetamine for conversion to ice.

Analysis of all samples of ice seized to date in the United States have shown purity levels of 90 to almost 100 percent. In 1996, ice sold for $200 to $450 per gram, from $5,000 to $8,500 per ounce and $35,000 to $50,000 per kilogram. Abusers in the United States ingested ice almost exclusively by smoking the drug in glass pipes.

What is meth addiction?

It may be surprising to some that methamphetamine was once a legitimate drug. In fact, it is still prescribed and sold in the U.S. (under the trade name Desoxyn) for weight loss and attention deficit disorder. This is an oral form of the drug. The injectable or smoked form is much more powerful and is illegal. Inhaling or injecting meth gives the addict an almost instant high. The drug speeds quickly into the bloodstream and the brain. While methamphetamine is addictive in any form, it is the immediate rush and sustained high of the inhaled drug that makes it so addictive.

Methamphetamine, when inhaled, gives the user an extreme, overwhelming sense of euphoria, power, and seemingly boundless energy. Ideas come in a flash, conversation quickens, and sexual arousal is heightened; lights and colors seem brighter, the heart beat speeds up and the person becomes restless with nervous intensity. It is sometimes used to instill confidence in social situations and an oral tablet, Yaba (a mix of caffeine and meth) has become popular at clubs and raves.

This wonderful feeling quickly fades and the user crashes. The crash comes from the user’s body paying the price for the super-charged meth state. Fatigue and depression are the common elements. Users may sleep for extended periods unless they have become dependent on the drug, in which case they will awaken and begin a cycle of craving and drug seeking behavior.

What is meth tweaking?

Extended periods of use, called ‘tweaking’, will force an addict to keep using more and more of the drug. They will stay awake and tweaked for days or even a week at a time. An episode may only end when they are arrested or hospitalized for psychotic, violent behavior or when their body simply cannot function any longer.


What is Meth?
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Meth Facts

  • Meth abuse is a widespread problem in America. Today much of the meth available on the street is illicit and produced in clandestine laboratories in the United States and more recently, Mexico. Because of this, questions always linger about the quality of the drug.
  • Those who have a meth abuse problem and use large amounts of the drug over a long period of time can develop an amphetamine psychosis, which is a mental disorder similar to paranoid schizophrenia. The symptoms of this psychosis are hallucinations, delusions, and extreme paranoia. Withdrawal symptoms can occur when use of meth is stopped abruptly. Users may experience fatigue; long, disturbed periods of sleep; irritability; intense hunger, and moderate to severe depression. The length and severity of the depression is related to the quantity used and the frequency of the users’ meth abuse.
  • Military pilots used amphetamines to stay awake on long flights to their bombing targets during the war. College students used them to stay awake all night to study for exams. In the 1960's people used amphetamines for entertainment. Then, in the 1970's as laws made getting amphetamines more difficult, their use all but disappeared. But now the use of amphetamines has returned in full force, primarily in the form of the supercharged version called Crystal Meth. Processed mainly in makeshift "meth labs", Crystal Meth use is booming, and in its wake people are dying. What is Crystal Meth? What does it do and what is being done to halt its march across our cities?
  • What is Crystal Meth? Crystal Meth is the synthetic white crystalline powder form of amphetamines. While the legal form of amphetamines are used primarily as a short term treatment for obesity, crystal meth is used as a recreational drug, for its ability to enhance the senses and cause an euphoric high. It is said that when used, people often go days without sleep and engage in high risk sexual activity non-stop. While the legal form it is odorless, crystal meth often smells of ammonia, due to the chemicals used during manufacturing.
  • How is Crystal Meth Manufactured? Crystal meth is "cooked" in labs that spring up in abandoned homes, warehouses, and kitchens in middle class neighborhoods. Chemicals and solvents that can be purchased in hardware stores, over the counter medications such as pseudoephed, and ordinary items such as pots and pans are used to manufacture this killer. What results is a deadly form of amphetamine...crystal meth...and toxic by-products that contaminate the air, can cause illness and death, and are highly volatile, often exploding without warning. When meth labs are found and shut down, hazardous materials units respond to properly handle and dismantle the labs in order to protect homes and people living near the lab.
  • Dangerous physical effects of meth: In low doses, crystal meth heightens the senses and makes the uses more alert. In higher doses, the drug causes exhilaration and euphoria. If used in even higher doses, heart rate increases, body temperature can rise to very dangerous levels, and the user can become paranoid, agitated and exhibit very bizarre and risky behavior. It's at these high doses that overdose and death can occur.
  • Meth Addiction: Some experts say that it is impossible not to become addicted to crystal meth. Some studies have shown that 9 out of 10 people who inject crystal meth just once will become addicted. While those who smoke crystal meth take longer to become addicted, most will and progress to injection. In addition to its ability to addict the user, tolerance also occurs, meaning the user must use higher doses to achieve the same effect. Eventually, the doses are so high that the most dangerous effects such as increased heart rate, severe hyperthermia (high body temperature), paranoia, and stroke can occur, often resulting in death. Once addicted, kicking the addiction is said to be at most almost impossible and at least extremely difficult and emotionally painful.
  • Meth Withdrawal: Prolonged use and addiction to crystal meth slowly "burns out" the pleasure senses. The body produces two substances, dopamine and norepinephrine, to stimulate to body. Crystal meth eventually burns out the system that produces these important chemicals. Without crystal meth the body can no longer produce them as before crystal meth. After stopping the drug, the person will experience a profound "numbness" and depression because the body can no longer produce the two stimulants necessary to experience pleasure. The depression can become so profound that users trying to stop will commit suicide to ease their pain. Also, addiction relapse is very common. Most people trying to stop will use again once out of rehab. In short, crystal meth takes hold and will not let go.